There is not, however, any consensus on a particular estate tax reform. The status quo is that the estate tax, which is suspended this year unless retroactive legislation changes this fact, will return with a vengeance with higher rates and smaller exemptions than it has had for almost a decade in 2011.

Multiple attempts to pass compromise bills have failed. The Administration and most Democrats in Congress support a proposal to effectively make the 2009 estate tax laws permanent with some minor tweaking, but this has not received enough support to become law.

Once upon a time, I believed that Congress was sure to act before 2010. Now, I'm not at all sure what it will do.